Weaving A Magical Tale

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22 August 2019 | Tulsi Silks

Weaving A Magical Tale

The sacred plant tulsi stands for positivity, spiritual goodness, happiness and Indian-ness. Tulsi Silks too represents the quintessential qualities of the plant, which is revered and worshipped by several Indians.

Driven by the firm commitment to spread goodness, freshness and positive vibes all around and make the sari a proud part of the Indian woman’s wardrobe, we have grown from strength to strength-with an accent on quality, design and innovation.

The journey began when Mr.Suresh Parekh and Mr.Santosh Parekh, our owners, began working at their family textile store in the beautiful hill-town of Ooty in Tamil Nadu. The experience of working here helped Suresh and Santosh learn the ropes of the textile trade very early in life. After a decade of running the family business, the duo moved to the garment retail hub of Chennai to set up a sari store in the early 1990s. And there has been no looking back since then.

Fashioning a unique identity

For a newcomer like us, Chennai was a tough ground with the presence of retail giants who were well entrenched in the business. Wooing customers who were patrons of old names in the sari business was not an easy task. But we managed to do so with great customer service; a pleasant shopping ambience; hand-picked, innovative products at competitive prices; and unswerving quality. From day one, these qualities have been woven naturally into our system, keeping us in good stead in the market and helping us weather competition from new players too.

Backward integration is one of our core strengths. This means investing in the entire sari-making process. From designing and innovating to customising and manufacturing, we own every part of the process, end to end. Today, we are one of the few stores in Chennai that designs, manufactures and retails its own saris.

Every sari that enters our store carries with it the mark of innovation and painstaking craftsmanship. We have the highest respect for the weaver community and their extraordinary skills in breathing life into our ideas. We strongly believe in giving back to the weavers and staying connected with them at every stage of the sari creation process. This not only helps us meet our business objectives, but it also helps the weavers achieve their goals.

Celebrating Indian-Ness

At Tulsi, we believe the sari represents India’s unique identity and heritage. It describes who we are and where we came from. It is this unique Indian-ness that we celebrate every day and this is reflected in our name as well.

Apart from the qualities that ‘tulsi’ stands for, there are other reasons behind choosing this name. Acharya Tulsi is the spiritual guru of the founders who inspired them to reach great heights of success. Tulsi is also a fairly common name across the country and it resonates with the ethos of Indian culture.

Marching Ahead

Four years ago, we moved to a new address in Chennai. Our upmarket new store, in the same neighbourhood where our old store stood, signified our intent to take bigger and bolder strides in sari retailing.

In 2016, we launched an online store to seize the opportunity in the burgeoning e-commerce space. Last year, we burst into the national scene with our participation at the prestigious Lakme Fashion Week, which won us a sea of admirers and customers.

Today, with our most beloved and loyal customers, including celebrity patrons, we have indeed come a long way from our early days. But we believe we have just scratched the surface and the best is yet to come.